The Pirates! Band of Misfits is absurd, in a good way. A combination of good storytelling and sufficient wackiness is enough to make it worth seeing.
Brought to you by the less than stiff upper lips of Peter Lord and Jeff Newitt and written by relative newcomer Gideon Defoe, Pirates follows the adventures of The Pirate Captain (Hugh Grant) and his crew. Captain is trying to win Pirate of the Year honors. On his journey to win the prize he has memorable run-ins with Queen Victoria (Imelda Stauton) and Charles Darwin (David Tennant).
In the last decade both the big and small screen have been clogged with absurd comedy. Absurdity has in many ways had a long history in performance (see Theatre of the Absurd and Moliere). Juxtaposing good and bad or showing the meaninglessness of certain aspects of life can be both funny and illuminating. Recent forms have tended to be on the supremely odd and meaningless end (see Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! and The Andy Milonakis Show). But, Pirates rests more on the traditional notion of absurdity in theater.
Queen Victoria is recast as pirate hating, prestige seeking, and menacing. Charles Darwin is redrawn (or is it re-clay-ed) as mean spirited, thieving, intellectually bankrupt, and covetous. Science becomes a field for magicians and oddballs, whose studies are driven by awards. All these characterizations work on two levels. First, the play against the reality of the character. Second, they seek to highlight the absurdity of the position of critics when taken to an extreme level.
The best example is Darwin’s Chimp (who is often mistakenly referred to as a monkey). Darwin dresses him up in a butler’s suit and he starts to take on human characteristics. He even has the capability to communicate using an endless number of cue cards as if he emerged from a 1990’s music video.
The smart absurdity of Pirates provides great adult humor (as in funny for adults and not as in naughty). My informal rubric of children’s laughter in the theater indicates that they were also amused.
Pirates is also a surprisingly cool movie to watch in 3D. The stop motion/claymation lends itself well to the format. The characters seem even more robust and the backgrounds really come to life.
Pirates will not blow anyone’s mind. But, Pirates is a fun and snarky film. Highlighted with some clever reframing, absurdity, and silliness.
PARSI VERDICT: A real gem of absurdity.